


Happy Anniversary

by AnnaWatermelon



Series: Café Hwarang [8]
Category: SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bottom Lee Taemin, M/M, Top Kim Jonghyun, guys being dudes and playing mario kart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 00:01:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17991035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaWatermelon/pseuds/AnnaWatermelon
Summary: It's the Cafe's anniversary and they're holding a talent show as a special event. Jonghyun's performance makes Taemin realize something he always somehow knew, but never came to terms with.





	Happy Anniversary

“Hyung?”

 

“Yeah?” A chorus of replies came.

 

Taemin sighed. “Jinki hyung.”

 

“What’s up?” Jinki said as he approached Taemin, holding a glass cup and a rag in his hands.

 

Taemin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “How do you deal with stage fright?” He asked, wringing his hands together.

 

Jinki blinked and pursed his lips in thought, focusing on his cleaning for a minute before answering. “I just do other stuff so I don’t think about it.” He replied, holding the items in his hands out as an example.

 

That wouldn’t be an option for Taemin. He was already setting up the decorations for the cafe’s anniversary on each table and he still couldn’t escape his own thoughts. It was like his body was on autopilot while his mind swarmed with a million horrific scenarios. What if he tripped while stepping onto their makeshift stage? What if he somehow messed up his solo? What if he forgot the words to their closing song?

 

All this anxiety for a dumb talent show. Taemin wanted to host a karaoke night with the customers instead, because that way he wouldn’t have to perform, wouldn’t have to feel this prickling under his skin, making his fingers twitch. Kibum had said the customers would’ve wanted to hear him sing anyways so this was the smarter option, and Taemin hated that he was right. “Thank you, hyung.” Taemin said, trying not to sound as disappointed as he felt. Jinki just nodded and turned around, back to the kitchen.

 

When Minho sweeped past Taemin a few minutes later, he knew he had to try and seize this chance again. “Hyung, how do you handle stage fright?” He asked as he set the plastic container of flowers down on the table. Jinki didn’t trust him with a real glass vase and Taemin couldn’t argue with that.

 

“Weren’t you a ballerina?” He replied, only to make a face and talk some more before Taemin could respond. “Male ballerina? Ballerino? Ballerini? Ballerin...uhh…”

 

“Just say ‘ballet dancer’, hyung.” Taemin said the words in a rush, wanting to get back to his question. “And yes, why?”

 

“Well, how did you deal with it back then?” He placed two hands on the end of his broom and rested his chin on them, waiting for Taemin’s answer.

 

“Uhh…” Taemin could feel the gears turning in his head as he tried to recall something from so long ago. “I don’t know? I stopped when I was eleven, I can’t even remember if I _had_ stage fright.” His mouth went dry as he thought back to that time, when he quit doing ballet. He had lied to his mom and said he hated it his whole life, blamed her for signing him up for it in the first place. But the truth was that he was just about to enter middle school and when the other boys found out he was a dancer...they said what anyone would expect an immature child to say. And while it turned out they weren’t entirely wrong, Taemin still didn’t deserve that treatment.

 

“Oh.” Minho said, processing Taemin’s response. “I mean, I just work it out.” He gestured to the broom in his hands. “Being active gets rid of the nerves. For me, at least.”

 

Taemin _was_ being active already, and that wasn’t helping him either. He thought his heart might burst at any second and the only thing he wanted was to get rid of this feeling, this terror slowly encompassing his whole body. “Okay, thanks.” He said, giving Minho the weakest smile, the only kind he could muster. Minho smiled back and resumed his cleaning duties, leaving Taemin to collapse onto a chair. Just a few minutes, he told himself, just sit down and relax for a few minutes until he could get his pulse to stop rushing to his ears.

 

He had barely sat down for ten seconds when the chair across from him was being pulled out, and Taemin’s view of it was replaced by Kibum’s body. “Look, you’re never going to get rid of stage fright, okay?” He said, hands placed in front of him.

 

Taemin felt his stomach drop. “Okay??” He drew his eyebrows together in utter confusion.

 

Kibum suddenly reached for him and nudged him in the shoulder. “It’s a good thing! Use it!” Taemin thought Kibum was acting crazy and his face must’ve showed it because then Kibum was sighing. “Turn that nervous energy into productivity. Practice. The more you practice, the less likely you are to mess up, and each time you remember everything perfectly, your confidence will increase until you’re not scared anymore.” He paused to give Taemin a smile. “If you weren’t worried about making mistakes, you would never have tried not to in the first place. It’s a good thing you want to show your best performance.”

 

For the first time, someone had told him something that actually helped. He did practice a lot, his solo piano song was something he’d been playing for over a decade. And Jonghyun had helped him so much with his singing, to the point where he noticed immediate improvement and had never sounded better in his life. “Thank you, Kibum hyung.” Taemin could give him a real smile this time, and Kibum was just as genuine as he returned the gesture.

 

After Kibum had stood up and was already heading back to the stool he was using the hang the ceiling decorations up, he turned around and said one last thing. “And on the off chance you do make a mistake, don’t act like you did. Nine out of ten times, no one besides you will even notice.”

 

Okay, Taemin could do that. Maybe. He really hoped so. Especially once people started filing into the cafe, making their way towards the chairs they’d lined up in a row. The “stage” was just a corner of the room they had cleaned out and faced all the chairs towards, but it was the best they could do. He gulped when he saw Jonghyun’s keyboard plugged into the wall, feeling his pulse quicken. It’ll be fine, he told himself, repeating what Kibum had told him in his mind, like a mantra.

* * *

 

Jinki was of course the host of the show tonight, as well as the opening act. Taemin and the rest of them were seated to the side, away from where the customers were facing, all watching Jinki except for him. He couldn’t stop watching his knees tap together as he shook his legs, thoughts threatening to wander but trying his best to focus on the music. His coworkers had all worked so hard on their performances, the least he could do was pay attention to them.

 

And while Taemin had a hard time processing the lyrics he was hearing, he could tell that Jinki had an absolutely gorgeous voice. It made sense considering his talking was already so soothing, but he had no problem staying on pitch, even during the highest parts of the song, and he always sounded so full and resonant. In the back of his mind Taemin thanked himself for choosing not to sing a solo and hoped he wouldn’t be too noticeable during their closing number.

 

After Jinki was Minho, and even though their voices were so different sounding, they somehow complimented each other perfectly. They even chose similar sounding songs; sweet ballads that surely made the audience melt. Unfortunately, Taemin had an even harder time understanding the words to Minho’s song because of the pounding in his ears. He was up next. But he really needed to be able to hear when Minho’s song ended so he’d know when to make his way onto their “stage”.

 

Near the end of Minho’s song, Taemin became aware of something encompassing his hand. Whether it had just started that moment or had been going on for longer, Taemin didn’t know. He looked down at it to find what could only be Jonghyun’s hand around his, and he followed Jonghyun’s arm all the way up to his face. The second Jonghyun felt Taemin’s eyes on him he turned his head so they were looking at each other. He gave Taemin a small smile and made his heart pound for a completely different reason, and suddenly he could feel how sweaty Jonghyun’s palm was. Normally, if it was anyone else, Taemin would think it was gross, but instead it was comforting to know that Jonghyun was just as nervous as he was. And he was sure the others were too, but they were so good at hiding it that he couldn’t tell. Or Taemin just didn’t know their mannerisms well enough to notice if they changed. Or both.

 

Taemin heard the applause before he processed that the music had stopped. His throat went dry and it hurt when he swallowed, but there was no going back now. Just as he was about to stand up, Jonghyun raised their hands to his lips, kissing his fingers, and just like that Taemin felt more ready for this than ever before. He still wasn’t _ready_ , but it was something, and any amount of anxiety off his shoulders was welcome.

 

When he walked across the stage Taemin couldn’t tell if he was being too slow or too fast, and neither option was better than the other. So he stayed at the same pace, nerves alight and feet like lead, making him feel both light and heavy at the same time. And as he sat down at the keyboard, he breathed a sigh of relief. He brushed his fingers across the keys as it powered up, the sight of them so familiar and comforting, and he knew this part. He knew he could play the piano well. He had nothing to worry about.

 

As he played the first chord he heard the audience “ooo”, and he couldn’t help but smile at that. He rode that high for the next series of notes, playing through them like it was the most natural thing in the world. Each time he hit the notes right he felt the crushing weight on him become smaller and smaller, and by the chorus he was playing louder, more confidently than the beginning.

 

Perhaps a little too confidently, he thought as he hit a wrong note. Trying not to panic, he kept playing through like normal, reminding himself to act like nothing happened, as Kibum advised. The dissonant chord kept replaying in his head and he wondered how truthful Kibum’s advice had been, because there was no way they didn’t hear that. Instead, the best he could hope for was that they did notice but didn’t care. At least he didn’t hear anyone laugh.

 

When the ending of his song faded out, Taemin nearly jumped out of his seat as the audience applauded. He could even hear someone cheering to his right, and when he looked he noticed it was Jonghyun, out of his seat and giving him a one-person standing ovation. Taemin felt his ears go hot and he looked away, bowing to the audience like he was supposed to but also using it as an excuse to hide his shy smile.

 

Jonghyun’s performance was after his, so when Taemin headed back to his seat, he passed Jonghyun on the way. He gave Taemin a huge, cheesy smile and two thumbs up and Taemin snorted. When Taemin sat down, the other three gave their own feedback, patting him on the back and whispering “you did great out there”. Taemin whispered back “But I messed up, though?”, tilting his head to the side. The other three gave him their own looks of confusion, and Jinki asked “When?”, and that was enough to calm Taemin’s worries. He bit his lip and thanked everyone, complimenting Minho and Jinki as well.

 

And then everyone went quiet as Jonghyun played the first notes on his guitar. Taemin had heard snippets of the song while Jonghyun was practicing, but never the whole thing, and he was so thankful he didn’t have to worry about his own performance anymore so he could give his full attention to Jonghyun’s. The guitar was soft as Jonghyun strummed it, but Jonghyun’s voice was softer, leaning towards the microphone as he sang the opening lines,

 

“A warm winter has come again

Coats, scarves, sweaters, mittens

Even without those things, I’m not cold

Because you’re always by my side”

 

Taemin felt as though he was floating, listening to Jonghyun’s voice. The handful of times he was lucky enough to hear Jonghyun sing had made him conscious of the two styles Jonghyun’s voice could be; this song happened to be the one that called to you, encompassed you in a hug, the kind only someone who truly loves you inside and out can give. It was the kind that made you feel like there were only two things in the world that existed, you and his voice. And for Taemin, at this moment, they might as well have been.

 

“Grateful feelings keep remaining

Your words keep lingering in my ears

So it’s not cold at all today, on this warm winter

Because you’re always by my side”

 

As the song went on, it became increasingly more apparent to Taemin that it was written about him. Jonghyun sang about events Taemin remembered fondly, back in the days when they first started dating and Taemin was so unsure of himself. But Jonghyun was always supportive, even when Taemin didn’t realize it in the moment, and his small acts of validation had made Taemin who he was today. True, he was still shy, but he no longer felt scared of people, and he was able to let go of mistakes when he used to let them fester in his brain until he hated himself.

 

There were many ways Jonghyun had helped Taemin. But the biggest one, he thought, was gifting him this powerful, beautiful emotion that he’d never felt before in his life.

 

So when Jonghyun sat next to him again after finishing his song, he didn’t want to keep it to himself. “I love you.”

 

At first Jonghyun didn’t say anything back, just looked into his eyes as Taemin stared at his, dark brown irises changed to midnight black in the low lighting. When he blinked and opened his eyes again, the night was dotted with stars, somehow dull in comparison to the natural brilliance of his gaze.

 

But of course the stars were just the fairy lights on the walls reflecting on the tears gathering in his eyes. Taemin felt his chest tighten, afraid he had just made a terrible mistake when Jonghyun held his hands, brought them to his heart, and said to him “I love you too, Taemin-ah. I love you so, so much.”

 

The smile that spread across Taemin’s face was so wide it hurt. “Really?” He asked, mouth having a mind of its own, because of course he knew Jonghyun was telling the truth. He didn’t need to ask.

 

Or perhaps he just wanted to hear it again. “Really.” Jonghyun replied, giving Taemin the best smile he could manage with tears running down his face. “I really love you, Taemin.”

 

Taemin thought if he could hear Jonghyun say that every day, he would be happy for the rest of his life.

* * *

 

“Say ahh~”

 

“Ahh~”

 

Jonghyun lowered the chocolate covered strawberry into Taemin’s mouth, petting his hair as he bit down on the fruit. They had a growing pile of strawberry tops on the paper plate Jonghyun had placed on the side table next to him, and he added onto it as Taemin chewed, not even remotely subtle about how he was staring at Taemin’s red lips.

 

Jinki and Kibum, however, were sitting on the floor in front of their coffee table, glaring daggers at Taemin sprawled across their couch with his head on Jonghyun’s lap. “Min!! Get in here!!” Kibum yelled, still glowering at Taemin. Not that he cared what Kibum thought when he was being treated like a prince by his gorgeous boyfriend.

 

“Wha?” Minho appeared in the entryway of the kitchen, voice muffled by the frozen pizza currently in his mouth.

 

“Look at them!!” Kibum continued, gesturing towards Taemin and Jonghyun. “They’re being the _most_ boyfriends right now and making us look like idiots!!”

 

Taemin snorted at that, because of course that’s what they were upset about. “Oh _hell_ no, give me one of those strawberries.” Minho stumbled over to them and wrenched himself in between Jinki and Kibum, reaching across the table for the plate of strawberries. “Wait, which one of you is gonna feed me?”

 

“I am.” Kibum and Jinki said at the same time.

 

“Kibum is.” Jinki followed up with. Minho immediately draped himself across Kibum and they mirrored Jonghyun and Taemin’s pose, even though Jonghyun wasn’t even feeding Taemin anymore, too mesmerized by the scene in front of him. Immediately after Minho had eaten the fruit, he clapped and bounced up, raising his eyebrows at Jonghyun and Taemin as if to say “beat that”.

 

“Are you really trying out-cute us?” Jonghyun sighed, before placing his hands on either side of Taemin’s face, squishing his cheeks together. “Have you _seen_ this face? You guys don’t stand a chance.”

 

Taemin pushed Jonghyun’s hands away and whined out a “Hyuuung…”, feeling his face go red.

 

“There’s only one way to settle who’s the cuter couple.” Jinki said, gathering everyone’s attention, taking a long pause and making them hang onto his every word. “We have to play Mario Kart.”

 

Kibum sighed, and Taemin shared his sentiments. Ninety percent of the time he had no idea what the hell Jinki was talking about. “Hyung, if you want to play Mario Kart, just say you want to play Mario Kart.” Kibum said.

 

“I want to play Mario Kart.” Jinki grinned at him and Kibum rolled his eyes, ghost of a smile on his face.

 

Unfortunately playing video games meant Taemin had to give up his very comfortable spot on the couch, but don’t let it be said he didn’t go down without a fight. It took all three of his hosts to pick him up and drop him on the ground, which in retrospect was much easier than he expected. Just another setback of being a literal pencil.

 

And when they were actually playing, Taemin couldn’t seem to win a single round even though he considered himself to be quite skilled at video games. He couldn’t even win when Minho and Kibum were trying to block each other’s views, which was often.

 

After his fifth loss in a row Taemin crossed his arms and pouted. “This game is homophobic, I’m gay, I can’t drive.” He grumbled, more for effect than anything else.

 

“Um, we’re all gay, though?” Minho laughed, choosing the next stage. Bowser’s Castle. Taemin swore he was picking all the hardest tracks on purpose, either to show off or make things harder for Taemin specifically. Probably both, actually.

 

“Well you guys own the game so you can practice as much as you want, so you gotta admit you have the advantage.” Jonghyun said, giving Taemin a secret smile, letting him know that he was standing up for him.

 

“Oh boo hoo, let me play you a song on the world’s smallest violin.” Kibum said, earning him a kick in the knee from Jonghyun, which just made the both of them laugh.

 

Ultimately, Taemin came in third once, and that was the best he was able to do the whole night. Each round was usually won by Minho but sometimes Jinki, and when Jinki beat Minho he’d pout until Jinki kissed him. And they thought _he_ was being grossly affectionate.

 

But by the time had come for him to leave, Taemin didn’t care much about the video game. Instead he was just glad he was able to spend time with these people who had become his friends, who made him laugh and feel included, the latter especially important. Because of his shyness, Taemin often felt left out of conversations, but they let him talk, they asked for his opinions on things, and that meant the world to him.

 

And if they were the world, Taemin’s universe was walking beside him right now. “...so that’s why I main Bowser, why do you main Yoshi?” Jonghyun asked him while they made their way towards Jonghyun’s car.

 

Taemin couldn’t fight the smile on his face from how adorably nerdy Jonghyun was being. “I dunno, he’s a green dinosaur, what’s not to like?”

 

Jonghyun pursed his lips, placing one foot in front of the other, not speaking. He didn’t open his mouth until a few seconds later, when they were seated in his car. “Taemin-ah…” He said, voice trailing off at the end, eyes pointed down.

 

“Yes?” Taemin replied.

 

Then Jonghyun was holding his hand again, lifting his gaze until it met Taemin’s, deep, dark eyes seeing into him, making him feel warm. “Would you like to come home with me?”

 

Taemin thought he’d never ask.

* * *

 

“Ah, hyung…” Taemin cried out as he dragged his nails across Jonghyun’s back, earning him a grunt in reply. He squeaked when he felt Jonghyun biting down on his skin, face buried in the crook of his neck, hair tickling his cheek.

 

The slap of skin on skin filled the room every time Jonghyun thrusted into him, sending waves of pleasure through his body. His cock was leaking precome onto his stomach, his legs quivering where they were wrapped around Jonghyun’s waist. When Jonghyun hit a spot inside him that made him see white, his toes curled and his heels dug into the small of Jonghyun’s back, trying to take him in deeper, not a centimeter of space between them.

 

Jonghyun started moaning more and more against Taemin’s neck, and his grip on Taemin’s hips became so tight it hurt, but Taemin didn’t mind, he loved it when Jonghyun lost control, covered him in his marks. His lips trailed up Taemin’s jaw until he could kiss him again, easily slipping his tongue in from how Taemin couldn’t seem to close his mouth no matter how hard he tried, breathing too heavily, whimpering with each thrust.

 

“Fuck, Taemin-ah...baby…” Jonghyun groaned against his lips, brushing them together as they moved. He kept trying to kiss him despite his breath growing more and more labored, and the gesture made Taemin’s heart feel full, still pounding in his ribcage. Taemin did his best to kiss him back, but it was mostly just them sharing air, their hot breaths mixing together.

 

Jonghyun’s hips began to lose their rhythm and Taemin could feel the warmth gradually building in his lower stomach, and he needed more to be pushed over the edge, felt the urge tingling under his fingertips. “Jonghyun hyung, I - please…” He had to bite his lip after a particularly powerful thrust, muffling his drawn-out moan.

 

“Please what?” He breathed, and it wasn’t teasing this time, he actually didn’t know. Taemin was too far gone to tell him what he wanted, but he couldn’t think of how to say it, mind so impossibly foggy he couldn’t come up with words. So instead he dropped his hand from Jonghyun’s back, shaky and weak, and reached in between their bodies, letting out a noise as he wrapped his hand around his neglected cock.

 

With a few more poundings into Taemin’s body Jonghyun was filling him with cum, groaning as he kept shallowly thrusting to ride it out. Taemin could feel his chest rising and falling against his as he caught his breath, little puffs of air against Taemin’s mouth. Taemin sped his hand up, knowing he’d need that much more to make him cum now that Jonghyun could no longer fuck him. His dick was so sensitive it was almost too much to keep touching it, back rising off the bed, letting all the noises that were in him out.

 

Once Jonghyun had come down from his high he lifted himself up, eyebrows furrowed as he took in Taemin’s state. He almost had a mind to stop touching himself but there was no way he could stop now, orgasm so close he could taste it on the tip of his tongue.

 

When Jonghyun’s eyes finally saw what Taemin was doing they went wide, and Taemin had to whimper at the way he was staring at him, free hand covering his eyes. He felt Jonghyun pull out and he whined at the loss, as well the cum dripping out of him, but he still didn’t dare open his eyes. He knew what he’d find if he opened them, and knowing Jonghyun was watching him jerk off was already too much for him. “Hyuuung…” His face was gradually growing hotter and hotter, and he worried if he’d be able to cum like this, so embarrassed his cheeks burned.

 

“Go faster, Taeminnie.” Jonghyun said, voice rough from overuse. Taemin stopped as he took that in, whimpering at the command, at the sound of Jonghyun’s voice. But he started up again, more hesitant this time, but quickly worked up to what Jonghyun had said. The longer he went on the more desperate he became, shaking becoming more intense each time he touched the head of his cock.

 

“Hyung, please, I-I can’t…” Taemin sobbed out, hoping to god Jonghyun would understand, no energy left for words anymore.

 

Taemin felt something slip inside him and he immediately recognized it as Jonghyun’s fingers, knowing the feeling of them so intimately well, moaning at the realization. They stroked in and out of him, torturously slow, and Taemin kept squirming, trying to take more of them in, to make Jonghyun go faster, to do anything.

 

But then Jonghyun was curling his fingers, and finally the knot in Taemin’s stomach unraveled. He cried out as his orgasm rushed through him, and his whole body shook as he came onto his stomach and hand. Jonghyun kept moving his fingers inside of him to help him ride it out and Taemin scrunched his face, so overstimulated now, letting out all these broken moans.

 

After Taemin’s whimpers turned to sobs Jonghyun pulled his fingers out and Taemin could breathe again. His body had gone limp against the mattress, one hand still around his cock, no energy to move it. His lips had gone dry from how harshly he was panting, and he hummed through his nose when he felt Jonghyun’s own cover them.

 

Jonghyun traced his bottom lip with his tongue before entering him, flirting with his tongue, making Taemin shiver. He almost wrapped his arms around Jonghyun’s shoulders again, wanting to pull him in closer, kiss him deeper, but then he remembered the mess currently on his hand. “Jonghyun hyung…” Taemin trailed off at the end so Jonghyun would pull back, look at him as he listened. “My hand is covered in cum.”

 

Jonghyun just gave him a smile and held his clean hand, helping him sit up. “That’s okay, hyung will take care of you.” He said, accentuating it with a kiss on Taemin’s forehead, causing his heart to flutter and cheeks go pink.

 

And now there was just one thing Taemin wanted to tell him, one thing that was all Taemin could think as he looked at Jonghyun’s face, saw the way his smile met his eyes, saw how swollen and red his lips were from desperately kissing him. “I love you, hyung.”

 

Jonghyun pressed their smiles together, and although the action was enough for Taemin to already know, he said it out loud anyways. “I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> That's the end of this series!! I hope you all enjoyed it, sorry this one took so long. I kept cutting out different scenes and it ended up being too short, so.......surprise porn.


End file.
